and then there were 9

we have 5 new family members. their names, oddly enough, are mommy, daddy, molly, colby, and shane. shane, because he's the guy responsible for our new pets.

ok, you wanna see them? do ya? do ya?

here they are on the ride home.

can you tell what they are? here's one close up just in case.....

AAAHHHHH!!!!! hissing cockroaches! what was i thinking?!?!? i think maybe my brain shut down or i left my body and someone else took over for an hour or so. or maybe i'm just a really cool mom. :) we'll go with that.

that is my hand in the above picture. i was the first in the fmaily to hold one. i ain't skeered.

i had to make sure i could do it before i consented to having them in the house. i needed to know i would be able to clean the cage and catch the escapees that we'll no doubt have at some point, because that would happen to me.

we also held a milk snake, a banded king snake, a ball python, and a red tail boa. a friend of ours keeps all these at his house and invited us over to "play" with them. we thought colby would love it so we jumped at the chance. i think allen and i had more fun than colby did. he wasn't to keen on holding any of them other than a baby snake, and that lasted about 10 seconds. molly almost immediately went upstairs to "play kitchen". that's my girl.

nevertheless we are the proud new owners of 5 hissing cockroaches, and one of them is named after me...kind of. who knew?

parenting is causing me, pushing me, even allowing me, to do things i never, ever thought i would do. EVER.

i think i like it.

the water bottle of mass destruction revisited

we got home from bible study this morning and the kids wanted to play outside. its a beautiful day, about 75 degrees, sunny with a breeze, awesome! we had lunch, PB&J, and the kids went out in the front yard while i sat just inside the open front door in the entryway and organized bill stubs and tax stuff. fun. almost immediately they asked for their water bottles. you know, the ones they're supposed to drink out of but prefer to dump the contents therein all over the yard, or the carpet and window sills and my bible in mollys case (you've heard this already). i filled them to the top and handed them over. filled them again. and again. and again. this went on and on about every 2 or 3 mintues for half an hour. i was feeling particularly patient i guess. then colby comes in and says, "mommy, mollys watering herself!!" i looked up and sure enough, there she stood in the corner of the yard, dumping her water right over the top of her head and down her front. she came in dripping, and i took this video. she was so proud of herself.



...i cant get the video to post, so here's the link if you really want to see it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEOI6g3GGrs




on another note, colby's been wanting to be with me all the time. his words. he's my little shadow. it has its moment of sweetness, but then there are times when i want to, oh i dont know, go to the bathroom or take a shower. then molly joins in becuase wherever he is, thats where she wants to be. i had to send molly to timeout from the toilet the other day. its not like i was camping out there or anything. it was a quick trip (this is way too much info. i'm really sorry about that), but in the few seconds i was sitting there, they got in a fight. colby irritated her and she hit him in the face, so i sent her to time out...from the toilet.

is this normal? is this what my life has come to? am i the only mother out there who can't even pee in peace? anyone? bueller?

totally bummed

i promised to keep you posted, but i come bearing sad news.

for those of you that don't know, and most of you probably don't, i do musical theatre. i love love love it and have really been looking forward to doing another show. its been a little over a year since the last one, which was CATS back in the fall of '07. having 2 preschoolers at home and a husband thats a pastor doesnt leave a lot of time to commit to things such as rehearsals for 3 hours 5 nights a week, but i have an amazing husband that supports me and i've been averaging a show a year for the past 4 years. with practices and performances its about a 3 & 1/2 month commitment.

anyway, i auditioned for Grease over the weekend. i got called back for the part of Frenchy, so i went back for round two of auditions last night. then i found out this morning that i didnt get the part. soooo, i'm sad, but i know God's in control, and for whatever reason i don't need to do a show right now. there will be others.

just for old times sake, and to relive my most recent 'glory days', i pulled out some pictures from CATS so you can see why i love it so much! :) i was Bombalurina for those of you that are familiar with the show. i can't find any of my picture cd's from Guys and Dolls or Beauty and the Beast. i also did Music Man, but those too are buried in a pile somewhere i'm sure.

project 365, jan 12-18...and colby's conversation w/God

before my pictures i have to share our lunch story. we went to which wich (of course) after church with my parents and the lamberts, 9 people total. which wich is small, the tables are bolted to the floor (i guess so people like us can't show up and take over), and the largest table seats 8 somewhat uncomfortably, so we went outside. it was a very pretty day, high 70's, but the wind was ridiculous. the paper towels and bags (this is a super fancy place, yes?) were blowing everywhere and i heard colby say, "God, can you please make the wind stop?!? i'm trying to eat my lunch!!" we laughed and kept eating. i was choking down a little bit of pride that he knew who to ask about that pesky wind. a few minutes later he said, "God said no. there's more wind coming this way." love it!

ok, on to the main event....

MONDAY, Jan 12th

for project 365 i'm trying not to take a bunch of pictures of my family (specifically my adorable kids, because lets face it, i could totally go that route and be perfectly happy). i want to broaden my horizons, of you will, and think outside the box a little bit. however, over the weekend my granparents on my dads side came into town (we only see them a few times a year) and they came over monday night along with my other grandparents and my parents as well. i can't remember the last time we were all together. allen wanted a picture of all the ladies, so this is my picture from monday. my dads mom is on the left and my moms mom is immediately to my right, with my mom next to her. molly is of course in my lap. 4 generations!

TUESDAY, Jan 13th

colby and i spent quite a bit of time working through some of his "schoolbooks" on tuesday. he's got all the short vowel sounds down and loves all the worksheets. handwriting...not so much yet.

WEDNESDAY, Jan 14th

colby decided he wanted to plant an apple tree so we can have our very own apples. after much explanation that 'just because you plant a seed doesnt mean it will grow, and even if a tree grows that doesnt mean it will grow apples', i finally let him have his fun. he's commented every day about our tree not growing yet.

THURSDAY, Jan 15th

bible study started thursday morning. we're doing the new beth moore study on esther. this one is supposed to be more young mom and working woman friendly. so theres only 3 pages of homework instead of 5 or 6. :)

FRIDAY, Jan 16th

dinner friday night was grilled chicken salad. i put the kids' salad on their plate in sections and let them eat it however they see fit. this is what colby decided to do with his.

SATURDAY, Jan 17th
i had an audition at the theatre saturday afternoon for Grease. the last show i did was CATS over a year ago, so i'm hoping this turns out well. i'm missing it. i'll keep ya'll posted.

SUNDAY, Jan 18th

yes, these are molly's feet. i don't know why i took this picture. i just thought it was cute. she was eating her cereal before church this morning. this is how she always sits when she eats.

the mating habits of seahorses, and other things a 4-year-old shouldn't know

colby has a girlfriend. they're both in agreement about it, so it's definitely official. she's precious and beautiful and has a great family. yes this is important, even at 4.
when i picked him up from school on wednesday his teacher, ms brandy, said,
ms brandy:"do you know that colbys going to marry rebecca?"
me: "oh, really? so they've progressed to marriage now?"
ms brandy: "apparently. he told the whole class today that they're getting married."
at this i walked over to rebecca, who hadn't been picked up yet and asked,
me: "rebecca are you going to marry colby?"
rebecca: "YES!! cause he's my boyfrieeend!"
however, i never see them playing together at church or at school. they might occasionally sit next to each other at snack time, but thats all i've seen. i told her mom the other day that we need to schedule a playdate becuase colby keeps asking when he can go to rebecca's house. then i commented that it might not turn out so great. if they actually get one on one time together they might figure out that he's a stinky boy and she's a girly girl and they really don't want to play together. then sara said,
sara: "this might be the real thing. i don't think i've ever seen devotion like this. look at him."
i looked at colby at he was grinning like i'd never seen, this sappy puppy love grin at rebecca.
no wedding plans are being made yet, but they'd be great in-laws.
i started asking some questions when we got in the car.
me: "colby, why do you like rebecca so much? what is it about her?"
colby: "i don't know."
me: "do you play together at church and school? or does she just play with the girls?"
colby: "she plays with me and the girls."
me: "ok, cause i've never seen ya'll play together."
colby: "well, we do. i like her because she's so silly."
me: "oh, so you like a good sense of humor in a woman?"
colby: "whats a sense of humor?"
me: "it means you can laugh and joke around at things. its good to have."
colby: "yeah, she has a good senser hooner."
me: "sense of humor."
colby: "rebeccas going to be the mommy and i'm going to be the daddy."
me: "oh?"
colby: "yeah, and i'm going to have the babies."
me: "colby, mommies have babies, not daddies."
colby: "why?"
me: "because thats how God made us."
colby: "but daddy seahorses have babies. the mommy gives the eggs to the daddy and then he gives birth to them out of his tummy."
me: "well, yes thats true (and so it is. my son knows so much more about 'sea animals' than any normal person should ever know.) but we're not seahorses.
colby: "i wish we were all like seahorses so daddies could have the babies!"
me: "you and me both, kid."

hooray for blog awards!!

i won a blog award a few days ago and haven't gotten around to paying it forward. then today i received another one, so now i have to to pass on!

luann gave me the 'lemonade award'

this award is given to blogs that show great attitude and/or gratitude in their daily postings.
i pass this award on to Brandy at "From Valleys to Rivers". her blog blesses me (when she updates it. hint, hint.) ;-) love you girl! :)

the second award i received is the 'your blog is fabulous' award

it's given to a blog that i just find to be completely fabulous and can't get enough of. thanks amy!! as part of accepting this award, i have to list 5 things i'm addicted to. in no particular order:

1) hanging out with my husband and kids

2)music/singing

3)reading

4)working out

5)which wich

this blog award goes to Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee. i can't even remember how i found her blog, but she's hilarious and i love reading what she has to say. i guess us youth ministry people have the same warped sense of humor. :)

and now i must go purchase a terribly expensive dress, get an up-do, and find a red carpet to walk on. come to think of it, i think chuck-e-cheese has red carpet. don't wait up!

mom injuries

is there such a thing as a mom injury?

there are sports injuries:
"hey why are you limping?"
"aw, it's an old sports injury. i was on the wrong end of a tackle."

there are work injuries:
"hey why are you limping?"
"it's a work injury. i got nailed in the knee with a hammer." no pun intended.

are there mom injuries?
"hey why are you limping?"
"i ran into the bathroom stepstool at a really weird angle."

seriously. that stepstool was right where it always is and i walked right into it. my ankle(ish) has been aching ever since. you know that spot that sinks in right below the ankle bone on the outside? after about 12 pictures, none of them very good (i have winter feet), i decided no one really wants to see a picture of my foot. except maybe some sicko. hey sicko, you're not invited. there's not really anything to see. no swelling or bruising. but man it hurts.
if i wasnt a mom there wouldnt be a stepstool in the bathroom. i might have been, like, 'cool aunt amy who has a stepstool' except i'm an only child so theres no hope of neices or nephews from my side. allens only brother, who does have a daughter, lives all the way up in canada (eh?), so its not like shes over here hanging out all the time, needing a stepstool.
so its definitely a mom injury. has anyone else experienced this?
is that covered by my insurance? moms comp?
what am i even talking about?
i must be delirious from the pain.